World History and world government departments

Let me continue to muse over world government. Living as I do in the ‘western core’, my attention is often drawn to international organizations who could see themselves as potential candidates for elements of a future world government.

The United Nations might be seen as the embryo for a world government. Its organs and agencies have acronyms that are part of everyday discourse – for example, FAO, IAEA, ICAO, ICJ, ILO, IMF, UNESCO, WHO, WTO, etc.

In addition, there are many non-governmental organizations (who are not affiliated to the United Nations) and whose trans-national work could not be discounted – for example, Oxfam, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Human Rights Watch, Save the Children, Amnesty International, etc.

However, the obstacles to the gradual emergence of a world government are immense. To begin with, the surrender of individual interests within nation states and the surrender of regional interests among a club of neighbouring nation states are difficult to imagine. It would involve the demotion of the sovereignty of nation states with territorial borders. I could imagine that an international conference to codify the laws for a ‘rule of law’ world government would last a long time. However, the process by which European Law has emerged among EU states might give some ground for optimism.

I find that a quick ‘google’ search reveals that there is a long list of distinguished writers on world government, and with whose opinions I am not yet familiar …